


8-bit Heart

by clownsick, MoonFlesh (Jitterbugfever)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Mild Blood, Minor Injuries, No Daddy Kink, Post-Omnic Crisis, Slow Burn, Teasing, mech battle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-02-13 20:59:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12992400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clownsick/pseuds/clownsick, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jitterbugfever/pseuds/MoonFlesh
Summary: While out on a mission to deal with the possibility of a second Omnic Crisis, Hana meets a masked man with a bad attitude and strikes up an alliance. What begins as a partnership through necessity becomes a deep bond in the face of growing unrest.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Eyy, we saw someone on Tumblr talking about how there aren't any slow burn fics for D.va/76 so we decided to fulfill that shit! There will not be any daddy kink in this fic, 76 is going to be pretty awkward about the whole thing. Hope you all like it. 
> 
> Don't like, don't read!

Overwatch had barely taken on a new life before a new threat had emerged. The team they had managed to get together was ragtag, uncoordinated, but the numbers were slowly being bolstered. As things stood, they were massively unprepared to deal with the tragedy that occurred on the West coast, starting somewhere in California.

A group of omnics, the kind of which had not been seen since the previous omnic threat, had been dropped down from an unidentified airship and had begun wreaking havoc on an unsuspecting San Francisco. It was small enough that a frazzled Winston had suggested it might be a test of strength, but devastatingly effective enough that hundreds would be left dead if nothing was done. Standard law enforcement could not stand up to it. 

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Talon was behind the attack. A small force of Overwatch members banded together, taking what supplies they could along with them on one of the few airships that survived the purging when the original organization had been shut down. It was a quiet and somber ride, but one of the younger members was raring to go. 

Hana Song had been the first one out of the airlock, fully armored in her mech. She had immediately soared off, landing on top of a building and jetting across. She had memorized the map of the area on the way over and was ready to dash into the frontlines when a ripple of anxiety went through her stomach. She ignored it, pushing back memories of what had happened to her home and thrusting the mech forward, diving back down into the city as she found her targets. 

Three OR14s were marching down the street, shooting with precision at cars and storefronts. It seemed this area had mostly been evacuated. There were a few injured off to the side, but Hana knew she couldn’t stop. Ziegler would be there to help them soon - she had to take care of the omnics. 

With the flick of some buttons Hana’s mech took off and she circled it around the group, landing in front of one that had just started to fire on a storefront. She activated her defense matrix, absorbing the bullets, then smirked as it stopped to reload, jamming her thumb down on a button. 

A burst of rockets slammed one after the other into the OR14, quickly reducing it to a pile of scrap metal. By the time the other two units turned to open fire she had already launched into the air again, deftly turning her unit to return the fire. Muscle memory kicked in and her hands seemed to move on their own, making her mech flitter between the air and the ground too quickly for the bulky OR14s to keep up.

Any anxiety was far away as she locked into the zone, finally destroying the second OR14 and focusing on the third. Bullets hailed against her defense matrix and her teeth gritted together as the juice on it ran low. She pulled back one of her control sticks then jammed it forward with a battle cry, shooting her mech straight towards the OR14. 

The two metallic behemoths crashed together, slamming into a brick wall. They grappled, Hana forcing the OR14’s firing arm away from her as she put her own gun into position.

She smiled fiercely as the gun was finally forced right against the OR14’s chest. “I play to win!” 

The burst of bullets shredded metal, sparks flying as the OR14 shorted out. It’s arm went limp and Hana backed her mech away from it, adrenaline humming through her body. Before she could take the time to celebrate her victory she heard a hail of bullets and a small explosion a short ways away. It had to be one of the other Overwatch members. 

Hana took off again, heading towards the source of the sound. Over the airwaves she radioed to the party, rattling off the coordinates and adding a chipper, “Hana Song on the way to back you up!” 

Just as she reached the roof of a nearby building she received a response from Winston, “There are no units at those coordinates. Repeat, there are no Overwatch agents in that location. Exercise extreme caution.” 

Her eyebrows rose curiously before she caught sight of a figure dashing between cars, another OR14 laying down a spray of bullets in a path that was just a split second behind them. The figure, what looked to be a man, held up a gun that looked like it belonged in a video game and fired a couple of rockets that hit the OR14’s arm, damaging it enough to prevent it from firing but not enough to destroy it. 

The figure took the chance to dash to a new location, reloading his gun as he sprinted with what even at that distance she could recognize as military precision. 

So he was one of the good guys. Hana smirked to herself, moving her mech around to the other side of the OR14 to draw its attention. It threw up a barrier and she let out a triumphant laugh, firing enough rockets at it to distract it and throwing up her defense matrix just in case. This should buy the man enough time to get a better vantage point and--

Just as she thought it, rockets came hurtling directly at the back of the omnic’s head, decimating it. The shield went down and she cheered, rushing forward and pulling on the trigger, holding it down until the entire frame was riddled with bullet holes. Only then did she stop and look over at the man who was walking out from behind a car. 

“Hey, not bad! These guys don’t stand a chance.” She walked her mech over to him, tilting it so she could get a proper look at him. “Nice work, stranger. They’re evacuating the city, you should get out of here while you can.” 

As the man looked up she noticed for the first time he was wearing a mask and Hana couldn’t help but think he was possibly some kind of weirdo. Or maybe some kind of vigilante. She could get behind that, if that was the case. 

The man grumbled at her, casually leaning the gun against his shoulder even though it had to have been pretty heavy. “Thanks, but I had the situation under control. If you’re with the police or,” she got the feeling he was looking her over, “the government, continue with the cleanup. I’ll take care of myself.” 

“I’m not with the government!” She laughed at the thought. This guy was pretty self important and she had the instinctive childish urge to knock him down a peg. But the fact stood that he was pretty damn good. “All you had to say was ‘thanks.’ Whatever!” 

She considered the map she’d looked at before, trying to determine where she was now when a loud crash came from a few streets over. She immediately threw the thrusters forward. “Dibs!” 

It wasn’t hard to find the location of the crash. She quickly threw up her shield and darted out of the line of fire of two bastions. The sight of them made her jittery and she took a few deep breaths, focusing. She could do this. No problem. 

Hana pulled the mech out and rushed one of the bastions, spraying it with bullets and circling, flying just above it with as unpredictable a trajectory as she could muster. She had nearly destroyed it when the other one locked onto her and she had to fly away at full force. She noted the one she’d battered beginning self-repair behind her and tsked. She had been so close, too. 

It was easy enough to duck and weave out of the way but she wasn’t able to easily get back to the other bastion unit before it had also started firing on her. She pushed up her defense matrix and fired some rockets simultaneously, managing to shower some on both units, but once again one of them began to self-repair while the other kept her busy.

“No fair!” She called out, like they would take her criticism. No matter, she refused to let them beat her! 

Hana had just started trying to circle back around to the one fixing itself when a hail of bullets struck it right in its repair arm, making the function defunct. It was soon followed by a familiar crash of rockets that left the bastion barely functioning. It seemed the man from before had been hot on her trail, but late to the party. 

A smile returned to Hana’s face and she quickly rushed in, adding another hail of bullets. “Alright!” 

The masked man gave her a look but quickly turned his attention to the remaining bastion, which had changed itself into a tank while they had been distracted with the other one. It fired a shot and the man dove out of the way just in time to miss being pulverized into a car just behind him. 

“That was a close one!” Hana laughed with renewed bravado, flying up into the air and aiming carefully. She set off another volley of rockets then rushed downwards, pulling up just in time to hover in front of the bastion, triggers held down. She heard telltale beeps from the machinery then a clanging sound as it fell apart in front of her. She cheered and threw both arms of her mech up in the air in victory. “D.Va five, bad guys zero!” 

She turned her mech around and padded over to the man who was busy reloading his gun in a swift motion. “Hey, you! If we’re doing the same thing why don’t you stick around? I have a shield!” 

Doubt seemed to come off the man in waves and she quickly intervened before he could give her a flat out no. “Oh come on, like you couldn’t use the help? That’s so typical of an old man, has to prove how independent he is.” 

There was an offended flinch but he didn’t try to argue. He finally growled out, turning to check their perimeters. “And what exactly is your goal?” 

“Clear out all hostiles in the area! The others are further from the frontlines helping with the wounded, but I’m here to take out the baddies.” She tilted her mech down further to give him a serious look through the glass. “So what do you say?” 

There was a stretch of silence until an explosion went off closeby and the man gave a sharp nod. Hana nodded back and the two moved out, winding around buildings until they came out to a city square. They immediately hid back behind the wall of a nearby building, both mentally calculating a plan of attack. 

There were three OR14s and two bastions making their way through. Hana received a transmission from Winston indicating that there were only a handful of the hostile omnics left on his radar. She leaned her mech down to speak to her new companion. “Looks like this might be the last of them. Whoever sent these is gonna have one hell of a bad day. That one OR14 looks damaged, let’s take it out and see if we can get the bastion!” 

The man grunted in approval and Hana figured that was good enough. She rushed out, launching missiles directly at the damaged OR14. They managed to blow a sizeable hole in it and it fell to the ground, twitching and jerking. 

“Yes!” The bastions were out of range, but an OR14 was directly in their line of sight. Hana turned the mech sharply and threw up her defenses as the man shot out rockets from behind her, landing a hit on another OR14. He dove behind a car and she rushed it, firing until it was just as useless as the other one. Two down, three to go. She glanced to the side, catching sight of him reloading the rockets. Nice! That should be enough to--

The sound of her shield being pelted by bullets drew her attention forward and she hissed sharply, pulling the mech to the side. It wasn’t fast enough and she felt the side of the mech crunch in. 

“Shit!” She hid behind an upturned truck, listening carefully for the sound of a bastion reloading. “I’m going to try to get behind them! Distract them for as long as you can, okay?” 

Hana looked over at the man and they both gave a sharp nod, though she had a feeling they had very different visions of how this would go down. She flew her mech up and over the omnics, letting it drop down behind their shields just as the man ran forward. An assault from his missiles had one of the shields down and the robots floundered, not knowing which way to look.

This was an expensive mech, but Winston had installed a compressor that would cause a very wide explosion. He must not be that hung up on how expensive they were. Hana flipped a switch, projecting her voice at full volume. 

“Activating self-destruct sequence!” 

A hatch opened in the back and she was thrown out of the mech, quickly catching her feet and running behind a building. She trusted the old man would do the same thing, not daring to look out. 

There was a boom as the mech exploded, accompanied by a second wave of debris crashing as it was thrown into the air from the force of the blast. A dull ringing sound lasted for a few seconds after the flash of light had dissipated and she was glad to have protection for her ears. Hopefully that hadn’t made the old man deaf. 

She slowly made her way around the corner, pistol raised if anything had somehow survived. All that remained of the other mechs was a scrap heap and she stuck her tongue out at the head of a bastion. Satisfied they had succeeded, she started looking out for the old man. 

Hana cupped a hand around her mouth. “Hellooo? Hey, can you hear me?” 

The man walked out from behind a corner, rubbing his shoulder. “A little warning would have been nice.” 

“Hey! I did give you a warning. What part of ‘self destruct’ isn’t self-explanatory?” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, daring him to chastise her some more. 

He stopped short, head tilting as he seemed to gape at her. “You’re just a kid.” 

“Who are you calling a kid?” Hana’s expression darkened with disapproval and she gave a sharp huff. “The person who just singlehandedly took out all of the bad guys. Again, the word you’re looking for is ‘thanks.’ And here I thought we had some chemistry out there! Teamwork!” 

The man continued to stare so she snapped her fingers at him impatiently. “Whatever. My mech is bust now, so I have to find my way back to the others. Good luck out there.” 

Hana gave him one-handed finger guns, feeling a little halfhearted after his rude shutdown. Besides, she had to find the others. She tapped her headset and let them know her coordinates, waiting until Winston fed her some to go to for a rendezvous. She wiggled her fingers in farewell at the man and started down the street, hoping to hell those really were the last of the omnics.

She had only gone a few feet when the man called out to her. “Wait. How far is your squad?” 

Hana paused to look at him then turned her nose up, shrugging one shoulder sharply. “That’s really none of your concern.” 

A few seconds passed before she was aware of the sound of boots crunching on broken glass coming up behind her. She didn’t even bother to turn around, flicking her hair. “Don’t tell me you’re going to start stalking me? I’ve taken care of guys bigger than you.” 

“There might be hostiles remaining in this area. At least let me escort you to your people.” There was a pause and then he added a bit stiffly, “As a show of thanks.” 

Hana turned a little at that, side eyeing him hard. She finally gave a sharp nod. “Fine. But they’re pretty far away. Make sure you keep up.” 

There was something fulfilling in having him more or less come to her with a humble apology and she started up a peppy step again, not slowing down for him to catch up. He matched pace with her fairly easily, though, and she couldn’t help but sneak another curious peek. She had to know. “So are you some kind of vigilante or what?” 

She could see him visually bristle at that and it genuinely surprised her that he could get anymore prickly than he already looked. “That’s what some people would call me, not one I would use for myself. I’m just a man with a job to do.” 

“So are vigilantes, right?” It pleased her that he didn’t immediately have a snappy comeback to that. “Not to mention you’re wearing a mask. I’m pretty sure only criminals and vigilantes wear masks.” 

“I have my reasons,” he snapped, maybe regretting his offer. He briskly changed the tide of the conversation. “What’s a kid like you doing going one on one with a bunch of omnics?” 

“Don’t call me a kid.” Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “A bunch of us heard about what happened and headed out as soon as we could. I offered to go to the frontlines because I’m good at what I do. What are  _ you  _ doing here? There’s no way you could have known there was going to be an attack.” 

“You think I don’t have my own sources?” Oh, so he was going to be tight lipped about it. Hana made a face, showing she thought it very unlikely. There was no way someone working on their own could have gotten there in time with the limited intel there was about the omnic incident. 

“Are you part of some kind of secret service or something? The outfit is pretty conspicuous, if you’re meant to be undercover. Not that it doesn’t look cool but seriously.” He looked like a character right out of one of her fighting games. 

The man grunted. “Just an old man with a handful of favors I have left to call in, that’s all. Enough to know that something fishy would be going on in this area. Satisfied?” 

“Be that way.” She didn’t push it. Hana reached up to play with a strand of her hair, looking around carefully as they headed into the next area. It was completely wrecked and the devastation of it reminded her of home. She frowned as a crackling came through on her headset, followed by Winston’s voice. 

“Hana, are you there?” 

She quickly pressed the communicator button. “I read you.” 

“All the OR14s and bastions on the radar have been cleared out, but the area is under tight surveillance now, we won’t be able to come get you for a while. Are you able to lay low?” 

“How long is a while?” This area was sketchy and she was vulnerable. “My mech’s gone, by the way. I won’t be able to fly back.” 

“It’s-- gone? What?” 

“I kind of had to destroy it.” 

Winston made a gruff sound of confusion then cleared his throat. “Right. Well. We’ll be in as soon as we can. McCree is trying to get into the area to find you.” 

“Don’t worry.” As long as the coast was clear she could hide out somewhere. “I made a friend. He’ll have my back if anything goes down.” 

The old man looked over at her and she gave him a wink, then flipped her hair like she hadn’t a care in the world. 

“A friend? Well… alright. Be careful, Hana.” 

The communication line went dead and Hana turned to the man. “This place is on lockdown. No way my people are getting in to grab me. Guess I’ll be stuck here for a while.” 

“On lockdown.” He said the words slowly, as if sounding them out. “So you’re not supposed to be here. Who do you work for?” 

“Hey! If you’re gonna be coy there’s no way I’m going to tell you who I work for. Get real.” 

He made a sound of displeasure but didn’t push the issue. At least he had the courtesy of not being a total hypocrite. He sighed. “Do you at least have a timeframe on how long it’s going to take your friends to reach you?” 

“If I knew I would have told you, duh.” She rolled her eyes. What did he think, she was some kind of space case? 

That had him grumbling again, clearly something weighing on his mind. He sighed a little more sharply that time but seemed to shake off the line of inquiry. “So what should I call you?” 

“Hana.” She pulled her gun out and began twirling it on her finger absently. She’d grown a bit bored now that the action was all over. She cast a curious look at him. “What about you?” 

He grunted, like he hadn’t expected the question to be turned on him. He must have been out of practice with conversation in addition to being old. “You can call me Soldier 76.” 

“Pff. I’m not calling you that.” 

“And why not?” 

“Uh, ‘cause it’s not your name for one. I told you mine, it’s only fair that you tell me yours.” 

“I didn’t ask for your name, I asked what I should call you. Mostly because it was burning you up every time I called you kid.” 

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Hana pushed on him and found he was as immovable as a mountain. They stared at each other for a second and then she huffed, striding forward as if she hadn’t just tried to shove him. “Anyway, that name is dumb. If you won’t tell me your name then you have to call me D.Va.” 

“Diva, huh.” 

“That’s right.” Maybe he recognized her now. That should teach him to show a little respect. 

The two trudged through the wreckage, Hana occasionally nitpicking him but otherwise leaving the serious questions be. There would be time for that after they found a place to hole up. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Come on, let’s go this way.” 

Hana groaned. “Another back alley? It’s totally suspicious for us to be skulking around after an attack. Not to mention it’s taking us forever to get anywhere.” 

For the last fifteen minutes, at every turn or shaky sign of human life, the old man had insisted they duck into the shadows and Hana was getting tired of it. “Look, I know you’ve got this whole aesthetic going on but it’s really a drag having to hide just because you’re wearing that. Can’t you just take off the mask?” 

The old man, the so-called Soldier 76, paused in front of her and sighed, turning around. “If I wasn’t wearing the mask for a reason, I wouldn’t have to put it on at all, would I?” 

“Who’s going to recognize you here? Do you have half of San Francisco after you or something?” 

There was what Hana considered a moody pause and then he shook his head. “It’s not safe for me to take it off right now.” 

He turned and started to walk away and she hurried to catch up with him. “You aren’t actually some kind of criminal are you? Because if you’re a bad guy I’ll have to take you out!” 

“I’m not a criminal,” he snapped. 

“So why can’t you take it off?” Hana paused. “If it’s part of a prosthetic or something I didn’t mean-” 

“It’s not,” Soldier 76 said briskly. 

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “You’re so difficult!” 

He didn’t respond to that and she made a small ‘hmph’ sound at his side. Where did he get off acting so mysterious, anyway? Hana wasn’t so sure it had been a good idea to team up with this guy after all. 

They resurfaced onto a main street and before Soldier 76 could even think of having them hop down into the sewer or something Hana grabbed his arm and pointed at a 7-Eleven. “Let’s fuel up in there!” 

He didn’t protest and followed her to the store, which seemed to be abandoned. There were tell-tale signs of mild looting but it didn’t seem like anyone had stuck around for long. “Come on, soldier, your identity will be safe in here.”  

Hana made a beeline for the soda, grabbing a two liter of Mountain Dew before heading over to the chips. She turned back towards the door and told him, “Better get something good. We might be here for a while.” 

She made some quick rounds about the store, grabbing a pack of peanut M&Ms and some double bubblegum before meeting back up with Soldier 76, who was looking at Clif Bars like a grandpa. 

“Ew,” she commented.

He glanced her way then did a double take at the items in her arms. “You’re really going to say that when you’re holding nothing but garbage? Eat something containing nutrients. You’re not going to have any energy with all that sugar.” 

“Puh-lease. Do you know what I’ve done on sugar? Probably a lot more than you and your nasty bars.” She held up her head haughtily and her eyes caught on something. “Oh wait, I guess I am forgetting something important.” 

Hana moved down the aisle a bit and grabbed a bag of potato chips. “There! Now I’m good to go. You going to grab some of those nasty bars or what?” 

Soldier 76 shook his head disapprovingly, muttering something about ‘kids these days’ as he stocked up on protein bars. Hana scrunched up her nose disapprovingly then went to dump a handful of bills on the counter. “Come on! Let’s go find somewhere to eat.” 

He didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. Hana was unwilling to eat in an alley next to the garbage but compromised a little by finding a shaded porch of an abandoned restaurant. She hopped the fence and dumped the goods onto a table, sitting herself down and opening up the bag of Doritos she’d snagged.

“Come on!” She cracked open the Mountain Dew and lifted it, chugging some back before pulling away with a refreshed gasp. Delicious. Soldier 76 sat down across from her, glancing this way and that with utmost suspicion. She rolled her eyes. “Relax.” 

She suddenly remembered one of the pseudo purchases she’d made and dug around in the pile for a small bottle of nail polish. They’d had a nice blue and she was glad she’d snagged it. She gave the old man a haughty look as she began doing her nails. “So what are you gonna do? Help with restoring the city or go off to fight more bad guys?” 

Soldier 76 eyed her newfound activity and it burned her up, assuming how frivolous he no doubt found it. It made her paint her nails that much more diligently. “The latter. There are still some people I’m after.” 

That gave Hana pause and she looked up from her pinkie nail. “You don’t mean the people responsible for all this, do you?”

Wouldn’t that mean he was after Talon? What was one old vigilante type going to do against a major evil faction like that? Not that it mattered, as he seemed disinclined to answer. “What about you? Were you just part of an in and out operation? You must have pretty good intel, whoever you work for.” 

“Nice try but I’m still not going to tell you who I work for until you tell me something substantial.” It was only fair, after all. Personally she thought this guy would benefit from being a lot less cagey. 

The two fell into a testy silence, Hana content to paint her nails and occasionally stuff her mouth with Doritos. Soldier 76 observed their surroundings in what she considered to be a huffy attitude and didn’t even touch his nasty Clif bars. Hana blew on her nails. It seemed they had come to an impasse. 

“You know, you don’t have to be so--” 

Just then she was cut off by the sound of gunfire and an explosion. She immediately jumped up, grabbing her gun and reaching up to activate her communicator. 

“Come in! Are you sure all the OR13s and bastions have been eliminated?” 

After a beat of silence, Winston’s voice came over the line, alarmed. “There haven’t been any reports. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, but I’m gonna go check it out. Keep me posted with any activity.” 

“Roger that.” 

Hana looked over at Soldier 76 who was already standing with his gun in his hands. They nodded at each other and headed out, following the sounds of mayhem. It was when they were down the street that they spotted an OR13. It noticed them immediately and assessed the threat, putting up a shield and beginning to shoot. They both dove behind a car. 

“Crap! Of course there’s another one, just my luck.” Hana readied her pistol, counting the shots and waiting for the sound of it reloading. 

“You’re vulnerable outside of that machine. You need to stay back.” 

Hana glared over at him, nose wrinkling in annoyance. “Hey, don’t tell me what to do! We can take it, no problem.” 

“You need to stay where it’s safe. I can handle one unit myself.” He was already starting to edge towards the end of the car, scanning where to make his next move. 

“But what if it’s more than one unit?” He was ignoring her. She started to move towards the other end of the car. “I’m going out there and you can’t stop me! So either we work together and take down the bad guy or we go at this completely uncoordinated and see what happens.” 

He’d turned back to give her a sharp look when the gunshots started to change their angle. He hastily moved back from his position and looked around, seeming to think. He finally growled out, “Fine. You move along its perimeters. Make sure you stay where there’s heavy cover and only take shots when you’re safe to do so. I’ll go around its other side. It can’t defend itself on two fronts.”

Hana smiled. “Alright! That’s more like it.” 

“On my signal.” 

She nodded, heart pounding hard as they both counted the shots. Her eyes remained fixed on his hand, body moving the second it sliced through the air, indicating for her to go. They both took off from behind the car, Hana sprinting and diving behind the next one. She peeked out from behind it, searching for the most strategic location. 

There was an abandoned van a few paces away that would provide decent enough cover and give her a chance to shoot behind the barrier. She listened, waiting for the shots to lead away from her area before darting over to it, throwing herself to the other side and aiming carefully. She managed to get a few shots in its neck before it turned to shoot at her. The barrier ran out and it threw down another one, this time facing her. Perfect. That should give her ally ample room to get behind it. 

Not wanting the OR13 to realize the ruse she peeked out when it felt safe enough to land a few shots on the barrier. A bullet whizzed by her face and she gasped, throwing her back to the car. She peeked through one of the busted windows instead, trying to get a glimpse of the old man. 

She glanced just in time to catch sight of him running behind the OR13. He crouched and aimed at the back of it, firing rockets at the back of its head. The sound alerted it just in time to swing around and shower him with a spray of bullets. Hana heard him cry out before diving to the side and taking a few well aimed shots. They landed and the OR13 made a loud, wailing electronic sound before collapsing to the ground in a twitching heap. 

Soldier 76, who had landed on his side, slowly pushed himself up as Hana ran forward, looking around carefully for any remaining bots. She stopped in front of the OR13 and shot it twice, making a satisfied sound when the twitching stopped. It freaked her out. She grinned and made her way past it, twirling her gun in her hand. 

“Hey, nice job!” 

He pulled himself up onto his feet, brushing himself off and eyeing the OR13 carefully. She laughed. “Don’t need to worry about this one anymore, it’s out of commission! Hey, we really do make a good team, don’t you think?” 

She put her fist out for him to pound it but when he stared at it, perhaps mystified by the gesture, she just turned it and gave him a thumbs up. Soldier 76 grunted, but even he seemed satisfied by the results. Then he turned his attention to his arm, touching it gingerly. 

Hana’s gaze travelled there and she gasped loudly. “O-M-G! You’re bleeding! Let me look at it.” 

One of the bullets must have nicked him and blood welled up, discoloring the coat’s sleeve. Soldier 76 shook his head, unconcerned. “It’s just a small scratch. Don’t worry about it.” 

“What? That’s stupid. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” 

Before he could protest she ran off, heading back the way they’d come from. It took her a little while to locate the convenience store again, but when she did she went straight for the first aid supplies, grabbing what she could and throwing more money down. May it never be said that she wasn’t fair. 

The old man was sitting down on some rubble when she came back and she snapped her fingers at him. “Take your coat off.” 

She stood, watching impatiently as he reluctantly pulled off his coat, letting it drop to the ground. Hana nodded emphatically and crouched down beside him, pulling out some gauze and soaking it in alcohol. She ran it over the wound and he hissed quietly behind the mask, but didn’t protest. 

After cleaning it, she took fresh gauze and pressed it to the wound, pulling out a box of bandaids and starting to undo them. “Couldn’t find any tape.” 

He grunted. “Were those really the only ones they had?” 

“What’s wrong with them?” Hana lifted up several of the Hello Kitty band aids and plastered them around the edge of the gauze. “Afraid the omnics are gonna laugh at you? Ha!” 

“It’s really not that bad,” Soldier 76 protested again, but it fell on deaf ears. 

Hana stuck down one more bandaid then nodded in satisfaction at her handiwork. “There! I can’t believe you were trying to lecture me when you’re the one that got shot! If you’re not careful it’s going to be game over.” 

Soldier 76 started to say something but she quickly shushed him as a message was transmitted to her earpiece, Winston speaking in a somewhat stressed tone. “Hana, is everything alright?” 

“Yup! My friend and I took care of the threat in this area. Are you getting anymore readings for more omnics?” Hana spun her gun idly, mentally counting how many bullets she had left. 

“Not yet, though we’re trying. You should be sure to be careful, though. We didn’t know there would be another near you, so there’s no guarantee there won’t be more.” 

“If there are, we’ll take care of them!” She threw a wink in the soldier’s direction. He gave no reaction this time either. 

There was a concerned hum on the other end of the line but then Winston’s voice perked up a bit. “We do have an agent that was able to slip by and is currently heading to rendezvous with you. I’m sending you the coordinates of where to meet up now.” 

“Sweet!” 

They exchanged a few more words before Hana disconnected, looking up the coordinates and sharing them with her companion. “Here’s where we’re headed. Someone’s going to come meet up with me. Once they do you can go off and do your vigilante shtick.” 

He didn’t seem to appreciate that one, grunting. Hana stood and started off and he followed suit, uncertain. “Where are you headed?” 

“The direction that omnic came from. I want to see what’s at the center of this while I still have a chance. See if I can figure anything out.” 

Soldier 76 grunted and left it at that, following her. The destruction worsened as they made their way towards the epicenter, fewer and fewer people remaining. They reached a part that was virtually abandoned and Hana felt a chill go up her spine. Something was off here. 

“Eugh, this place gives me the creeps. Let’s look it over and get out of--” 

Hana froze at the sensation of something hard and metal being pressed to the back of her head. Her eyes widened and she didn’t dare turn around. How had someone gotten behind her? The old man seemed startled, quickly aiming behind her head. A woman with a heavy Spanish accent spoke behind her. 

“Relax. I’m not going to shoot you now.” The gun lowered and Hana jumped back, turning around to face her. 

“Who are you!?” she demanded, pointing her gun. The woman scoffed. 

“I know who  _ you _ are, little girl.” She gestured carelessly at Hana then turned a smile next to her, eyes narrowing. “And I know who  _ you _ are, Soldier 76.” 

Soldier 76 growled harshly, not taking very kindly to that. It just made the woman smirk. “What’s the matter, touchy subject? Then again, I guess you wouldn’t want anyone knowing a corpse is running around.” 

“Watch yourself,” he said, gun still poised in her direction. 

The woman laughed, looking at her nails. “Ooh, I’m shaking in my bodysuit. Pointing your gun at someone who doesn’t even have their gun raised. Doesn’t suit the legend, does it?” 

She looked over at Hana, gesturing at Soldier 76. “Can you believe this guy?”

Hana didn’t know what was going on, but she knew this woman had something to do with the attack. She made her stance a little more firm. “I think you should remember you have  _ two  _ guns pointed in your direction. Now put your weapon down.” 

Sombra rolled her eyes. “ _ Ay dios mio _ , both of you are so uptight. Look, I’m just here to warn you that you’d better keep your noses in your own business if you don’t want to lose them.” 

“That sounds like something a bad guy would say,” Hana spat, keeping her gun trained on her. “Who do you work for?” 

“Who do you  _ think _ ?” 

Hana’s eyes narrowed. “Talon.” 

“Ooh, very perceptive. Then you should know to stay out of this.” The woman looked over at Soldier 76 and smirked, reaching up and curling her fingers in a little wave. “Nice bandaids.” 

Just like that she blipped out of existence. Hana made a sound of frustration and fired a shot where she’d been standing. Nothing. “Dammit!” 

She had to let the others know immediately upon returning. Their suspicions had been correct. Hana gestured to Soldier 76 with her gun. “I knew it!” 

He grumbled low under his breath. “My intel wasn’t wrong, then.” 

“Wait, hold on, so you are going after Talon?  _ Alone?  _ That is such a bad idea!” 

“Someone has to take care of them.” 

Hana scoffed at his flippant attitude. “What, and you’re the one to do it? You’re like, the main character that can’t die because of plot armor?” 

He gave her a long look then continued to survey the area, searching for a trace of the woman. “Never said I couldn’t die. Doesn’t change the fact that Talon needs to be taken out.” 

“In that case you should team up with me! My people are after Talon too. Or, well, they’re some of the people on the list of all the bad stuff happening. Then at least you wouldn’t be on some crazy suicide mission, and we could definitely use more good fighters like you.” 

Soldier 76 shook his head. “I’m glad to hear there are others actively working against Talon, but I’m not looking to join any teams. I’ve already done things that way and it didn’t work out.” 

“So going at it alone is your solution? That’s just dumb.” Hana huffed, putting her gun away. “We need good people coordinating, not just random stabs in the dark. We could really use someone like you.” 

“How can you expect me to join if you won’t even tell me who you work for?” 

Hana didn’t appreciate his tone, but she could definitely see where he was coming from. That was fair. Maybe it was time to let him know. She took a step forward, lowering her voice. “If you must know, I’m working for Overwatch. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.” 

The old man physically took a step back, expressing more than a little surprise before his brow furrowed and she could feel something come slamming down over his expression without even seeing it. She tilted her head, astounded by the reaction. “Wow, I just saw an entire lifetime of PTSD flash across your face. It’s kind of scary. Are you okay?” 

He looked away sharply, muttering more to himself than her, “So Overwatch is trying to get itself tangled in this mess again?” 

Hana took a step forward, waving a hand in his face. “Hello? Don’t ignore me! You know about Overwatch?” 

“I know about Overwatch,” he snapped, jerking his head away from her hand. 

“Great! Then you can help us out!” 

He gave her a long, hard look and Hana started to get the feeling maybe he didn’t have the warmest feelings towards the organization. He finally shook his head and told her gruffly, “I’ll help you get back to them but I have no intention of working with Overwatch.” 

Hana stared at him for a moment then huffed and gave him a shrug. If his mind was made up she wasn’t going to push it. Not for now, anyway. “Fine, suit yourself!” 

This guy was a real pill. Hana started to walk, checking the coordinates of their rendezvous point. If he was going to be a wet blanket then he could do that on his own time. No matter his feelings on it, Overwatch needed her back and she didn’t intend on making them wait. The sounds of footsteps behind her indicated he was still following and she flipped her hair nonchalantly. 

Some hero this Soldier 76 was turning out to be. 


	3. Chapter 3

“This whole cagey thing is really starting to get on my nerves.” 

It was the first time Hana had spoken in the past thirty minutes and it had been a very icy half hour. The two of them had been walking steadily to the rendezvous point, passing piles of rubble and upturned cars. After Soldier 76’s refusal of her offer to help with Overwatch, they had fallen into an uncomfortable silence that neither was willing to be the first to break. It seemed likely that they would reach their destination without another word passed between them, but that didn’t sit right with Hana. 

When he didn’t respond to what she’d said, she tried again. “I mean, it’s like all that great teamwork just got brushed off because you’re all salty about who I work for.” 

He finally sighed behind her, sounding tired. “It’s complicated.” 

“That’s just what people say when they don’t want to try,” Hana muttered, irritated. This guy was totally dismissing her. “If it really bothers you so much then you can just leave, you know. I don’t need a babysitter, if that’s what you’re thinking.” 

The silence trudged onwards but his footsteps were still behind her, so he wasn’t leaving. Hana was on the verge of telling him outright she didn’t want him following her when he suddenly spoke, voice sounding awkward. “Military?” 

“Huh?” She turned to glance back at him, confused. “No, I told you, Overwatch.” 

He cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly. “You’re military? I can recognize the training.” 

Hana’s eyebrows rose in surprise that he’d bothered to try and make conversation. It softened her growing irritation, even if it was a lame question. “Yeah! One of the best.” 

She raised a finger gun at him, closing one eye like she was aiming, then pulled the trigger. “Bang!” 

He stared at her and she could hear his awkward, growly breathing through the mask. She blew on her finger at imaginary smoke, taking it in stride. She listened to the silence where he struggled to continue the conversation then threw him a bone. He had tried. 

“Before that I was a professional gamer. We were enlisted to help fight in the army. I’m sure you’ve heard of the omnic attack on South Korea.” 

He grunted at that. “I have. Giant thing coming up out of the water. You fought it?” 

“Fought and won. Alongside other people and their mechs, of course. Every few years it comes back, but right now we’re in a time of peace so when Overwatch contacted me about joining I decided to come help.” She shrugged. “It felt weird going back to gaming after that. Full time, I mean.” 

“Gaming?” She could feel him chewing that over. “Professionally?” 

“Uh, yeah. The best!” Hadn’t he recognized her screen name? Maybe she’d overestimated his cred. 

“Huh. Didn’t realize that was a thing.” That came as no surprise. He looked at her carefully. “You should consider going back to it. Games and war aren’t the same thing.” 

Hana scoffed at his audacity. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Soldier 76. Maybe you’re the one who needs to rethink your world view. And don’t talk to me like I’m some little kid. I’ve already served in a war. Can you say you did the same at my age?” 

He grunted. Nothing to say to that, she noted. She would let the insult go only because she’d left him speechless. “You’re obviously military too. You practically have it oozing out of you. Also, ‘Soldier 76’? Bet you’re old enough to be the 76th soldier ever. Ha!” 

The sound of a heavy sigh behind her indicated his defeat. “Young people these days sure get their kicks in weird ways.” 

“See? That. That’s what I’m talking about.” This guy acted old enough to be her grandpa’s grandpa, but he still had some vigor in him. She had seen it when they fought. 

They were nearing the rendezvous point. Hana sent Winston her coordinates and he responded with those of the contact she was meeting. “We’re getting close. Keep an eye out.” 

“How did your contact get in here with Overwatch gear? A drop?” 

“Oh, I doubt he’s wearing Overwatch gear, if it’s who I think it is. You’ll know him when you see him.” 

Soldier 76 grumbled but didn’t push for more information. She took a glance at him, trying to determine if he looked more pensive or not. Was he nervous about seeing someone he might know? Hana was guessing he had to have some former affiliation with them, with that negative reaction, but she couldn’t figure out why he would dislike them so much.

They finally reached a spot outside of a cathedral and Hana checked their coordinates. “Alright, this should be the place! Doesn’t look like anyone’s here yet.” 

She stretched, turning towards Soldier 76. “My contact should be here pretty soon. If you’re trying to avoid interacting with more Overwatch agents you should probably go.” 

“I said I’d stay until they arrived. No telling what might happen between--” 

The old man suddenly froze, body going stiff. Wrinkles appeared on his forehead, deep and disturbed as they were approached by a man in a red duster, loud spurs, and a cowboy hat. 

“Here you are, Hana. Mech’s gone, you’ve got the doc worried since you said you had to blow it.” 

“Hey, McCree.” Hana smiled at him, resting a hand on her hip and giving him a finger gun. He returned it. “No worries, I’m totally fine! I picked myself up a nice human shield.” 

“Well, I’ll be.” McCree tipped his hat in Soldier 76’s direction, then seemed to go still, having a similar but much less disgruntled reaction to the man. He chewed on his cigar, brow furrowing thoughtfully before he gave a shrug. “Thanks for looking out for Miss Hana.” 

“He’s a really good shot. I tried to get him to join up with us, but no dice.” 

“Can’t be expecting random strangers to join up. Though maybe next time you should pass that by Winston before giving out a formal invite.” McCree winked in her direction before turning another thoughtful frown onto Soldier 76. The uncertain look eased up into a smile. “Must be mighty impressive if he caught your eye, though.” 

Hana grinned. Despite what a stick in the mud he was, it had been pretty fun to fight with him. “Not half bad, all things considered.” 

The soldier grunted, already half-turned to leave. “Glad to be of help. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get going now.” 

“Hold up!” Hana turned to him, taking a few steps towards him and holding up a hand to stop him. “You should give me some way to contact you. You don’t have to work with us, but there might be information we can give you. So you’re not just throwing yourself into danger.” 

McCree raised his eyebrows, but didn’t protest, looking at Soldier 76 curiously. Hana frowned expectantly and started tapping her foot. “Come on, we don’t have all day.” 

Soldier 76 looked briefly at McCree, then down at Hana. The hesitation was palpable but then he started to pull something out. Hana looked at it uncomprehendingly as he opened it up. “If you have any important intel, you can contact me at this number-” 

Hana pointed at it, interrupting him. “What is that?” 

He looked down at it, then back up at her. “It’s a phone.” 

“Ewww, but it’s so old. There’s no way that thing is useful!” 

“It’s plenty useful,” he ground out a bit defensively. 

“I’m sure. Okay, what’s your number?” Hana tapped a few buttons on her communicator and pulled up a screen in front of her, raising a brow at the old man who furrowed his in response. He read off a number and she typed it out quickly. “Thaaaanks.” 

He put his decrepit, grody flip phone back into his pocket and Hana wiggled her fingers at him in farewell. She had a feeling she might see him again. Or maybe never. Who knew? 

“Take care of yourself,” he grunted at her and slung his gun over his shoulder, heading off back towards the epicenter. 

“Nice bandaids,” McCree called out as he left. Hana laughed, grinning at his back. She watched him go then turned sharply, flipping her hair and walking past McCree. 

“Come on, let’s go! I have lots to tell you.” 

-

“He got Clif bars, isn’t that nasty? I don’t think he even ate any of them.” 

Hana sat, leaned back comfortably in the airship that had come to lift both her and McCree out of the area. Some of the others were staying behind to help with the injured, but as far as Winston was concerned, they had done their duty. She had spent the last twenty minutes regaling McCree with exactly what had happened while she was separated from the others. 

“He takes himself so seriously, too, ugh. Unfollow.” 

McCree chuckled, shaking his head. “Sounds like quite the character. This old timer got a name or is he just a mysterious wanderer, occasionally showing up at terrorist attacks?” 

“Oh, wait until you hear what he told me to call him.” Hana couldn’t believe she hadn’t told him yet. “He actually said to call him Soldier 76. Lame, right? That’s not even a name. It’s just like, a description.” 

McCree’s eyes narrowed at that. “Soldier 76, huh? Interesting.” 

“I don’t know if I’d call it that.” She rolled her eyes. “Still, he wasn’t all bad. I think maybe he’s just really awkward.” 

He had at least seemed to be genuinely concerned about her welfare. That was pretty nice for an old timer. She frowned a bit, thinking back on what he’d told her.

“He really seemed to have a grudge against Overwatch. I know everything fell apart in the end, but was the hate really that widespread?” 

“Well, yeah,” McCree said, lighting up a cigar despite strict regulations against doing so. “Half the planet called to shut it down. And the other half didn’t know what to think.” 

“But it seemed personal with him. Maybe he knew someone who was involved?” 

“Hm.” McCree took a drag then let the smoke out slowly as he rolled it over. “Truth be told? It’s entirely possible. A lot of people got burned by the fallout. Hell, he might have even been former Overwatch.” 

Hana wrinkled her nose at the smell of cigar smoke, making a big display of waving it away to let him know she didn’t like it. “Former Overwatch, huh? But it’s going to be different this time, right? Winston said it was going to be a whole new organization!” 

“Might not make a difference to someone caught up in the past.” 

“And you’re not?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. 

He chuckled, blowing out more cigar smoke. “Now, Ms. Hana, don’t come after me so personally like that. I’m here, ain’t I?” 

“Guess so.” She crossed her legs, bringing her nails up to pick at the flecks of polish that had gotten on her cuticles. Most of the members now were former Overwatch, so there must have been something pulling them back. She wondered what sort of role the old man would have played, if he really had been affiliated with the organization. Then she turned her curiosity on McCree. “What made you decide to come back?” 

“Sure wasn’t the health benefits.” She rolled her eyes and he chuckled before falling into uncomfortable introspection. “Don’t know. Wasn’t technically part of Overwatch to begin with, more like a shady branch of it. Guess I figured it was about time someone did something about this mess we’re all falling back into. Wasn’t making much headway on my own.” 

Hana nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah! Like duh, you can’t fix a problem that big on your own! That guy wanted to take on Talon all by himself. That’s impossible!” 

“You’re preaching to the choir, sister,” McCree said with a sigh. “Don’t figure he’ll have much luck, either.” 

“Well, he won’t  _ have _ to rely on luck if he’s cooperative.”

McCree snorted at that, but Hana was confident that the old man would see things her way. After all, there was no way someone could win against Talon on their own. That old man just had a deathwish. Sooner or later he’d see the value of team play. 

-

The only place to get food in what could laughably be called the new Overwatch headquarters was a vending machine. That was because Winston had commandeered the Overwatch Museum last minute to provide an American base of operations. Dr. Ziegler had said it was risky and foolish. McCree had said it was so obvious it might just work.

Hana had no complaints. She liked wandering around the museum in her off time, looking through the relics of an organization she had once heard of, but never thought she would join. The only problem was when she wanted to snag some food. Not that there wasn’t the pizza place, the Subway, the greasy diner, and the bagel shop, but she and McCree had eaten two pizzas by themselves the other night and nothing else really sounded good. So vending machine food it was. 

Most of the good choices had been picked clean. Hana hummed to herself, carefully selecting a package of cookies, some chips, and a candy bar. She punched the numbers emphatically, snatching up the food the instant the last one fell. She was going to feast.  

She had just torn open the candy bar and broken off a huge bite of it when a voice from behind startled her. “Oh, hello.” 

Hana turned, the piece of candy bar hanging between her teeth. Winston pushed up his glasses before offering her a small wave. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” 

After quickly inhaling the candy she shook her head. “No worries! I guess I was spacing out. I’ve been meaning to talk with you, Winston. Sorry about blowing the mech the other day! Sacrifices had to be made.” 

Winston laughed but it sounded a little troubled. “Well, the important thing is that you’re safe. Your new mech is just about done. Try to make it last as long as possible.” 

Hana flashed him a smile and a peace sign. “Gotcha! I’ll only blow it up in an emergency.” 

He nodded, seemingly satisfied by the answer. “The budget’s not quite what it used to be. Still, we make do. In fact, we have a couple of new leads that I wanted to discuss with you.” 

“New leads?” Hana ripped open the bag of chips, digging into them with gusto. “That’s great! Whatcha got for me?” 

“Would you rather discuss it, uh, somewhere else?” 

Hana continued to munch on the chips, staring at him uncomprehendingly. “Why?” 

“Nevermind. Let’s walk a bit.” It was always strange walking next to Winston, but Hana thought the way he strutted around on his knuckles was cute. He was such an official gorilla. The two started to make a round in the museum, passing the different glass cases. Hana glanced inside as Winston cleared his throat. 

“The main lead I want you to investigate is in Las Vegas. We’ve received some intel on Talon there. We’re not sure exactly what they’re up to, but there were blueprints for a new type of omnic. We’re guessing there will be a terrorist attack.” 

“A new type of omnic, huh? Do we have any idea of where exactly it will happen?"

Winston sighed, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck. “That’s the issue. It could be anywhere in the city, so we’re sending out a few people to scout it out. You’ll be in close communication so you can interact with each other and share intel, but ideally each of you will scout different parts of the city.” 

“Sounds like a challenge! Count me in. Is McCree going?” 

“Yes, Tracer too. Dr. Ziegler will be on site if you need medical assistance.” 

Hana tipped the chip bag back, opening her mouth as wide as possible to catch any delicious fragments. She tossed it into a trash can and ripped open her cookies. “I’m on it, Winston. Don’t even worry about it!” 

Winston chuckled, the deep rumble not carrying the same tone of unease as before. “Your enthusiasm reminds me a great deal of Lena’s. It’s good to have such an energetic bunch.” 

That perked Hana’s interest and she turned her gaze away from one of the displays onto him. “Did Overwatch used to have a bunch of salty players?” 

“Salty players,” Winston repeated, followed by a sarcastic grunt. “That could be called an understatement.” 

He sighed. “I suppose it’s more fair to say Overwatch was a diverse group which meant there were those who butted heads. You can’t expect everyone to agree all the time, or even most of the time.” 

“Hmm.” Hana threw a cookie into her mouth. Had that soldier guy been one of the salty players? She wouldn’t be surprised. “Well, we’ve got a great team comp now!” 

“That’s for sure!” Winston’s spirits seemed a bit raised. Hana grinned, throwing him a wink. 

“Just let me know when we’re headed out. I have something I need to take care of first, but say the word and Hana Song will jump into action!” 

Just one thing to take care of. 

-

The sun had nearly set by the time Soldier 76 reached the sketchy motel room he’d rented. It smelled like mildew and stale cigarettes despite being a non-smoking room. No amount of time made him completely nose-blind to the combination. It ultimately didn’t matter, as he knew it wouldn’t be long before he took off again. He’d certainly slept in worse places. 

With a tired grunt he tossed his gun up onto the bed before settling heavily onto it. Between their combined weight the mattress sank with a loud groan of protest. He tugged off his gloves and coat wearily, tossing them onto the scuffed side table. For a while he sat with his elbows resting on his knees, stretching his back and neck forward. More and more he could feel the age of his body beneath all the modifications. 

He finally reached up, unclasping the mask he wore and pulling it away. The stale, cool air hit his face and for a moment even felt refreshing. Soldier 76 reached up to rub it tiredly as he set the mask aside. He contemplated showering but his body rested heavily into the worn-down springs. 

A rumor had sent him to the area but so far the intel had been a dead end. There was certainly the feel of Talon, but no way for him to confirm where they were or how their actions would manifest. It made him yearn for the straightforwardness of going after street thugs. 

A soft buzzing sound drew him out of his thoughts and he realized he had closed his eyes. His head turned tiredly and he reached into his pocket, pulling out his cellphone. No one ever called him. There was literally only one person that could be. His eyes narrowed and he answered the phone reluctantly. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, old man.” The cheerful, sassy voice on the other end could only mean one thing. 

“Calling so soon?” he muttered gruffly, rolling his shoulder a bit. It ached. 

“Hey, you should be grateful! I have intel for you. Talon is planning on a terrorist attack in Las Vegas. I’m going to be there to keep an eye on things and take them out! You in?” 

Soldier 76 had to wonder a great deal if this blatant oversight in confidentiality regarding delicate intel was the epitome of how the new Overwatch was functioning. It was just about as amateur in nature as an organization could get but he wouldn’t deny the information would be useful. “Is that so?” 

He stood and moved over to the small dresser in the room, flipping open a notebook and grabbing a nearby pen. With all the hackers around the old fashioned method was the only way to keep anything safe. “Do you have the coordinates for where they intend to attack? Anticipated numbers? Are they still mucking around with omnics?” 

“None of that. We don’t exactly have an army at our disposal, either, so we’re going to have to be super crafty if we don’t want to die.” That was promising. Soldier 76 grunted and she continued on. “We intercepted blueprints, though. Looks like some sort of new omnic. So be prepared for that!” 

“Is that the best Overwatch can do?” He found himself saying it despite telling himself it wasn’t worth it. Some old wound was itching at his back. “A little bit of intel, blueprints, and no coordinates?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you have some you wanted to contribute? Oh wait, you have nothing. Thanks, though!” Mouthy kid. He had to concede, though, he didn’t have any of those things. “That’s what I thought. But we do have a date. And that date is in a week. Think you can get over there in time?” 

A week was more than enough time to not only reach the city but do a little digging on his own. He hated to admit it, but receiving the call was fortuitous. “I can make it.”

“Great! I’ll send you my coordinates when I arrive. Now isn’t there something you want to say to me? You know, for being so generous and all?” 

Soldier 76 finished scratching a few words down before sighing into the phone. “Doesn’t your generation know how to respect their elders?” 

“Does your generation know how to respect anyone younger than them?” She shot back. 

It nearly made him laugh, it was so sharp and unexpected. She had him there. “Thank you for the information.” 

“There, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?” He could hear the self-satisfied smile in her words. He merely grunted in response. “Anyway, good luck with whatever you’re doing. I gotta jet. Later!” 

After a soft beep, Soldier 76 lowered the phone and pocketed it. He reached up to rub the wound on his arm that had mostly healed. This probably wasn’t the best idea, getting involved with the little missus again. More than that, it wasn’t a good idea getting entangled with Overwatch. 

Still, he had no other leads to go on and, stubborn as he was, he knew he couldn’t take Talon on his own. He had just been pushing forward blindly and while he realized that was what he was doing, it was difficult not to just continue. He would have to take a more organized approach, and if that meant brushing shoulders with others, so be it. 

He just hoped the self-proclaimed diva knew what she was getting herself into.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this update but we hope that you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it!

Las Vegas was sweltering and Hana couldn’t wait for the sun to start going down. All the people and omnics packed together under burning lights weren’t exactly helping with the heat. When she had complained McCree had told her to appreciate the fact it was a dry heat and, considering the humidity she was used to at home, it had made things a little more bearable. 

She called upon her well honed concentration and continued to push her way through the crowds, searching for the right building. All she could think was that she should have insisted more on Soldier 76 meeting up with her and not the other way around. She was there to keep an eye out for suspicious activity, not go hunting down one old guy. 

Hana entered the building, one of the less gaudy hotels, and made a beeline for a seat in the lobby. She would wait until the appointed time -- in approximately two minutes -- and if he didn’t show up then she would bounce. After a moment of thought she pulled a piece of gum and popped it into her mouth. She took out her phone and opened up a game, killing a little time until a gruff voice from above made her look up. 

“Why are you wearing that?” 

It was the old man. This time he was sans jacket, wearing a black t-shirt. It seemed even he couldn’t deal with the heat. Hana was wearing civilian clothes, leggings and a crop top. Her headset was in a little backpack slung over her shoulder, as well as her gun. She slowly blew a bubble, waiting for it to grow fat and pop before responding. 

“Because we’re in Las Vegas. I’m not going to run around all conspicuous, like you in that mask. People probably just think it’s future fashion but seriously, that’s gonna get us looks.” 

Soldier 76 turned his head to watch someone in a shirt and pants combination that flashed lights and music walk by, then grunted at Hana. “Considering what other people are wearing, I think they’ll let it slide.” 

Hana rolled her eyes but at least they wouldn’t be skulking around. “Whatever. Let’s get going before the bad guys get the jump on us.” 

She pushed herself out of the chair, slinging the backpack over her shoulder and blowing another huge bubble. Despite being the weirdo in a mask he kept looking at her outfit and making disgruntled noises. The gum popped loudly and she gave him a sharp look. “What’s your damage?” 

“How are you supposed to take on a terrorist attack in civilian wear? You don’t even have armor, or a weapon.” 

She quickly looked him over, wondering if he had a gun hidden on him somewhere. The shirt was definitely too tight to be hiding anything. Probably in the massive duffel he had hanging around him. “Did you think I was going to be stomping around a cramped city in a mech? I’d be stopped every two seconds for a photo op! But don’t worry, I’ll call it down when the time comes and I have my handgun stored in my bag, just like you.” 

“Keep your voice down,” he grumbled sharply. Hana rolled her eyes but conceded. 

“The other agents are scouting the rest of the city, but we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started.” Hana flipped open an app on her phone, one Winston had made specifically for them. She opened up a diagram of the area, quickly pinpointing the most likely spaces to check. “It’s a bummer, but there’s not much we can do but walk around and wait. So let’s play it cool, like we’re just a fashionable girl and a guy in a mask on vacation.” 

“Can you stop focusing on the mask?” 

“Only if you take it off,” she countered. It looked weird, couldn’t he see that? 

He didn’t feel the need to respond to that, choosing to ignore her instead. Hana squinted at the app, then at their surroundings to figure out where they were heading. She finally pointed and they pushed forward. While they did get a fair amount of stares no one tried to stop them, so Hana held her tongue about his fashion choices. 

Instead she decided to poke at a completely different wasp’s nest. “So, did you used to work for Overwatch?” 

Soldier 76 tensed right up and shifted the duffel bag restlessly. He ground out, “That’s none of your business.” 

“So that’s a yes. Glad you’re being so forthcoming! What was it? Did you run errands for the big boss? Or maybe you were someplace less savory. Don’t tell me you were Blackwatch!” 

“We’re not talking about this anymore,” he said curtly.

That seemed like some kind of proof that he must have been but his tone was so scathing Hana was hesitant to keep wheedling him about it. Maybe he did have a good reason for hating Overwatch. She decided to back off for the time being. If nothing else she could ask McCree if someone like the soldier had been a part of their operation. It sounded like Blackwatch had been a pretty tight unit. 

They passed by an omnic dressed in strange clothing and a coiffed wig singing some super oldies. Hana paused to watch as a graceful retreat from the conversation. “Get a load of this guy. Who’s he supposed to be?” 

She didn’t think he was going to say anything but the old man finally said in a clipped tone, “Elvis.” 

Hana shrugged but was glad he’d bothered to answer. The omnic finished a song and the crowd around them clapped. He pointed to them and said in a strange voice, “Thank you, thank you very much. The King is alive.” 

“This city is weird,” Hana declared, blowing another bubble. “You got here before me, I bet you had all sorts of fun running around.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped the soldier. He didn’t take kindly to her teasing. “I was too busy gathering intel for the thought to even enter my mind.” 

“Ooh, defensive. I bet you went gambling, didn’t you? You really shouldn’t waste your resources like that.” Hana popped a bubble in his direction. “But I guess vigilantes have to find fun where they can.” 

The soldier adjusted the bag again and Hana loved how much she got under his skin. There was just something about him that made her want to push him around. Maybe if he was a little more friendly the urge wouldn’t be so strong. 

He chose not to directly argue, instead asking in an exasperated tone, “Is this really the best use of either of our time? I’m not sure what you’re getting out of being so belligerent but I didn’t come here to fight with a kid.” 

Hana scoffed. “I told you not to call me a kid!” 

“Then maybe you should stop acting like one.” 

“Maybe you should stop being such a joyless stick in the mud,” she shot back, raising her eyebrows at him pointedly. 

The crusty old man had just started a retort when a scuffle broke out in front of them. A man in a hoodie was roughing up an omnic who was wearing a hodge podge of different fashions. The omnic fell to the ground as the man snatched up its purse and started running. 

“Hey!” Hana didn’t hesitate for a second. She bounded off after the man, jumping clean over the omnic and chasing him down the street. It took her a moment to recognize that the thumping steps behind her were the old soldier’s. She hoped he wouldn’t fall and break his hip. 

The thief tore down another street with Hana hot on his tail. When he rounded a corner she lost him for a moment, but quickly spotted him showing his ID and entering a casino. She whipped her bag around mid-stride and pulled out her own very fake ID courtesy of Winston, holding it up to the men in front. 

“Please let me in. I gotta gamble!” 

They glanced briefly at it with apathetic eyes then waved her through. She had paused just inside the entrance to figure out which way the thief went and had just spotted him when she heard one of the men raise his voice. “No masks allowed in the casino, sir. You’re going to have to take that off if you want to come inside.” 

Hana glanced back briefly, meeting the old man’s gaze long enough to give him an ‘I told you so’ expression, then turned back around and started running after the thief. It was difficult getting through the cramped spaces, dodging around gamblers and nearly knocking the staff over multiple times. Luckily for her, the thief also found himself being impeded and slowly but surely Hana was catching up to him. 

He finally made a break for an exit door, Hana catching the flash of sunlight from outside interrupting the dim, artificial lighting of the casino. She pushed through, slamming into the door with her shoulder to open it and finding herself in a back alleyway. 

The thief was sprinting towards the end of it where he would no doubt try to disappear into the huge crowd. “Stop right there, crook!” 

As he reached the end of the alley, he turned and flipped Hana off. She gave a cry of frustration and doubled her speed, coming close to the end. If she could just turn the corner then--

Hana turned and ran into what felt like a brick wall, almost falling back onto her ass. A hand shot out and grabbed her arm, steadying her. Hana looked up at Soldier 76 with a dazed expression before quickly gathering her bearings. 

“Did you see where he went?!” 

Soldier 76 didn’t respond, turning and starting to run. She followed him, feeling a rush of adrenaline go through her. At least he was game for stopping the thief. Maybe he was cooler than she thought. 

He turned sharply, coming close to a large fountain in a center square. The thief was there, taking a moment to breathe with his hands on his knees. Soldier 76 rushed over but made a fatal flaw as he went to nab him. He underestimated the thief’s energy and went to grab him by the back of the neck. The man cried out in alarm and elbowed him hard enough to disrupt his center of gravity, sending him straight into the fountain. Hana gasped, equally appalled and amused. The thief started off again and Hana had just turned to inform the old man that she was hot on the case when she caught sight of something peculiar. 

Soldier 76 was lifting himself out of the fountain and the dark shirt clung to his body. In Hana’s mind it looked like something out of a commercial, water dripping in rivulets down his arms and chest. It struck her in that moment exactly what she was looking at. 

_ A man.  _

“Get a move on or he’ll get away!” 

Hana blinked then nodded. Right, the thief! There would be time to think about what she’d just seen later. She started sprinting after him, heart thumping hard in her chest. The heavy footsteps of the soldier soon returned and eventually he passed her. She had to admit, he was fast. 

The thief was heading for another casino when a street performer got in his way. It was some kind of mime, pretending to build up a wall in front of him. The man knocked the poor guy over, the imaginary wall doing nothing to save him, but it was just the break they needed. 

Soldier 76 grabbed the punk’s hoodie, yanking him back. He’d just started to try and wriggle out of it when Hana caught up, landing a solid blow that winded him. “Justice is served!” 

A policeman, whose kind had been all but useless up to that point, came over and caused quite a fuss, first blaming them for creating a ruckus before roughing up the thief a bit and then asking why the hell the old man was all wet. Hana knew the situation wasn’t going to be resolved easily, so once they were cleared of suspicion she snatched the purse up surreptitiously. 

It was only as they were walking away that she lifted it up, twirling the little thing on her hand. “Pretty slick, right?” 

The old man grunted at her. “It’s definitely some sort of crime to conceal something like that from a police officer.” 

“Puh-lease. He wouldn’t get it back to the right person.” 

“You don’t know that.” There wasn’t a lot of conviction in the words.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Want to go back there and tell him I took it? Be my guest, mister man in the mask.” Soldier 76 ignored her, lifting the edge of his shirt and wringing it out. She caught a glimpse of his hip and blew a slow bubble. The gum was starting to lose its flavor. “We made a pretty good team again. Did you notice?” 

He looked at her like he was trying to decide how snippy he wanted to be, so she was pleasantly surprised when he responded with, “We caught him. That’s what matters.”

“Yeah! Though it was pretty hilarious when they wouldn’t let you in the casino. I told you the mask would lead to trouble.” She sniggered. “And when you fell into the fountain! I can’t believe that guy managed to knock you over. You’re like a wall.” 

Hana glanced over, noting the way the shirt continued to cling to him. “I don’t suppose you have a change of clothes in that duffel of yours.” 

He grunted a negatory. They were lucky the cops hadn’t asked to check their bags. He noted dryly and a bit grumpily, “I’ll dry off eventually.” 

Although Soldier 76 hadn’t lost a bit of the attitude, it did please Hana that he went out of his way to help her catch the criminal when he could have let her run off on her own. Underneath all that crustiness there must be something redeeming. She nudged his side. “C’mon, let’s go return this purse. I’m sure the owner will be happy to have it back.” 

After tracing their steps back they were able to find the omnic and Hana returned the purse. They were distraught, thanking them over and over and offering money as a reward. Hana turned them down with a chipper attitude, giving them a double finger guns before walking off with Soldier 76. 

“I’m surprised you went after the thief, too. You didn’t have to.” 

“You’re the one that darted off.” Hana read his defensiveness and gave him a smirk. 

“But you didn’t have to try and catch the jerk. You’re a decent guy under all of that gravel, aren’t you?” He ignored her. She gave him another nudge. “I’m pretty sure I saw a giant fan a street over. You can go stand in front of it.” 

“I think we’ve wasted enough time away from our prime objective.”

Hana rolled her eyes. “C’mon, we can go check in that direction  _ and  _ help you dry off a little faster. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive.” 

He grumbled at her but didn’t protest as she took off in the direction of the fan, their eyes once again peeled for suspicious activity. It struck Hana in that moment how much anxiety she’d been feeling as an undercurrent before but catching the thief had eased it somewhat. She was so glad she’d invited Soldier 76 along, even if he was a huge grump. When the two of them were working together she felt like they could take anyone on. Talon had better watch out!

-

The area Hana had been designated was thoroughly scoured by the two of them, the buzz from earlier slowly but surely wearing off. They were getting antsier by the minute and Hana had put on her headset, asking the others for any information they might have. Nothing.

Evening had already hit, though, and the city was lighting up. All the flashing lights and signs from the storefronts and casinos were overstimulating, making it hard to concentrate. The area was also heavy with recent construction, the most notable being a large statue that they must have passed by a hundred times. Hana had noted its odd appearance, far too large and uncanny, and wondered at the city’s tackiness.  

“If the attack happens at night, things are gonna get dicey.” Hana dug around at the bottom of the little paper cup where her sundae had sat before being devoured. She was still hungry. The old man hadn’t been happy about her stopping for food, but had eventually admitted that it wouldn’t make much of a difference. “Do you think it was a bum lead? Ha! Or maybe the omnics malfunctioned.” 

“This is nothing to laugh at,” the old soldier grunted, quickening his step as if to make a point. 

“Please! We’ve been walking in circles. We should at least stay close to the main streets. That’s where they’re probably going to attack.” If they ever did. 

“Don’t you have to call down that mech of yours?” 

“Yeah, I said  _ close  _ to the main streets. Not creeping around in alleyways. You know, that’s really not good for your image.” 

“That’s the least of my worries.” 

Hana scoffed, but mostly out of irritation for the situation. She was all keyed up now! If something didn’t happen soon, she was gonna--

It happened so quickly it was hard to catch. There was a loud, mechanical whirring and the uncanny statue began moving, stepping down from its pedestal. It was surreal and everyone on the street slowed, at first assuming it was part of a street show. Lights slowly came to life along its body as it stretched out one hand, a strange glow forming at its palm. There was a blinding flash followed by a painfully loud pop, like a crack of thunder, and the street around them flickered then went dark. 

There was a hush, punctured by a few sharp gasps, like everyone’s breath had been stolen along with the lights, and then the screaming began. The omnic glowed a bright blue, the only source of illumination looming over the gathered crowd. It gave off an electric hum, the sound mingling with the whirring of its mechanics as it began moving heavily down the crowded street.  

Bodies started pushing past them, someone shoving roughly against Hana’s shoulder in their attempt to flee. She steadied herself and quickly reached out to grab the soldier’s arm so they wouldn’t get separated in the chaos. His mask gave off a single red strip of light and for the first time she was grateful for the silly thing. It would be difficult to lose him. 

The two looked at one another, not bothering to fight the roar of commotion around them to communicate. All it took was a mutual nod. It was go time. 

Hana sprinted, not needing to hear the heavy thud of her companion’s feet to know he was following this time. She dialed a few buttons on her mech, typing in her exact coordinates and starting to climb a ladder on the building next to them. The soldier stared up at her once she got to the roof-- thank god it was only one story-- and she looked down at him. 

“Well, don’t just stand there! Get your gun out!” 

The old man yelled something back up at her that she couldn’t hear and there was a loud metallic thud behind her. She turned to her mech and ran around it, jumping in. The moment she slid to the front, her mindset changed. That omnic had better watch out, Hana Song was on the case. 

She drew her mech down to the street below and the old man started running alongside it. She flew just above the crowd as he fought against it expertly, making their way towards the exact place everyone else was running away from. The crowd thinned the closer they got to the omnic, making it easier to navigate and hopefully easier to fight. 

Hana sent out a quick transmission as they approached, indicating to Soldier 76 to hang back. “Winston, the omnic attacked! Have you received reports?” 

Winston’s voice came from the mech’s dashboard. “We’re getting details now and all agents are currently heading towards your location. What can you tell me that I can pass along to the others?” 

“Well, I can’t tell you much but it’s pretty big and it can do something that knocked out all the lights! I’m not sure what its prime target is, as it hasn’t actively attacked anything other than that.” 

Winston made a concerned sound. “I did notice a power outage over multiple city blocks. Are you saying it did that in one go?” 

“Mmhm! Just flash, boom, no lights!” There was a moment of preoccupied mumbling from the other line. “It’s starting to get away so I gotta jet, Winston!” 

“Wait! Hana, do not engage. Distract it as long as you can but wait for backup before taking this thing on. We have no idea what it’s capable of doing.” 

The omnic was well within range and she could see the soldier below, waiting for a signal. “Exactly. So we can’t let it do anymore damage than it already has! Don’t worry, I’m not alone out here. I’ll coordinate with the others once they get here. If there’s anything left!” 

Before Winston could protest she cut the feed, gesturing with a wave of the mech’s arm that they were moving out. The two of them caught back up with the behemoth and Hana landed next to the soldier. “I’m going to go for it’s face to try and distract it. Try shooting its weird arm.” 

Soldier 76 nodded once. “Be careful out there and pull back if it becomes hostile.” 

Hana laughed, though it was sweet of him to be concerned. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this! You watch yourself, old man.” 

With that she jetted off, boosting herself towards its head. As she came around to the front of it she launched a volley of rockets right into its face. The omnic staggered back a step, head flying back from the force. There was another burst of explosions and out of the corner of Hana’s eye she saw Soldier 76’s rockets hitting around the omnic’s wrist. It was a nicely executed team play, if she did say so herself! 

But as the smoke cleared there was very little evidence of either of their attacks other than a couple of scorch marks. Hana frowned and started shooting around its head and neck, seeking out a weak point. The soldier likewise continued to fire shots around its arm until he’d fully depleted the gun’s clip.

The omnic was unfazed. To add insult to injury it hadn’t even paused in its journey to try and swat them away. The thing was completely unflappable! 

Frustrated, Hana retreated long enough to regroup with Soldier 76. “What’s up with this thing? It’s so tough! And we might as well not exist. It really burns me up!” 

Soldier 76 grunted as he reloaded. “It’s definitely tough. Seems pretty determined to see out its mission.” 

His eyes followed its projected path grimly. “Seems to be heading further up the strip. My guess is it’s going to use that weapon it’s got to knock out more of the power and seeing as none of the electricity over here has come back on it must have been enough to wreck the backup generators, too. It’s not the fastest but it could do a hell of a lot of damage in a short period of time.” 

“Then we have to go after it! We don’t have a lot of time before it takes out more power. We just gotta shoot it like crazy, there’s gotta be a weak point somewhere!” 

“That’s a terrible idea--” The old man was cut off as Hana threw her controls forward and jetted up and away, hot on the trail of the omnic. 

Hana circled the metal monster, spraying it with bullets and trying to cover as much area as she could. She flew with her tongue between her teeth -- a very bad and dangerous habit -- and swept around its legs until her mech had to land to regain its juice. 

“Oh, come on!” Just as she yelled it, a volley of rockets came up over the head of her mech and her pouty expression broke into a grin. There he was. She threw her mech forward again and spiraled around the omnic, unleashing a storm of bullets on its shell that fell impotently to the ground. It was really starting to cheese her off. 

Finally Hana pulled her mech up behind it and hovered. She squinted, trying to find any physical anomaly. Any weak point she could exploit, anything-- Her eyes caught on a small seam on the back of its neck. Probably where some joints were. Maybe, just maybe… 

With a battle cry she threw her mech forward, attacking the spot with a rain of bullets. For the first time the mech stopped moving and the head slowly turned, pivoted in place, and stopped to look at Hana with eerie intelligence. 

Hana’s eyes widened in surprise and she pulled back a little too hard on her controls, the mech wobbling uneasily in the air. The shock only lasted a moment before a cocky grin came to her face. “Oh, I finally have your attention, do I- Whoa!” 

Hana scrambled to avoid as one of its arms rotated back and swung at her with the sharpness of a whip. Her mech spun and she started to fly around its body. The thing was faster than it was letting on but now she knew its weak spot. All she had to do was get her balance back and then this thing would be down for the count. 

Only as she circled around did she find its other arm waiting for her. She cursed in Korean as she barely managed to weave under the blow. Gunfire whizzed through the air behind her and she looked down to see that Soldier 76 was firing at the omnic, trying to pull its attention away from her. A shiver shot down her spine as her gaze moved back towards the omnic and she saw its head turning to follow her, its eye blazing with intensity. 

Hana’s heart pounded, adrenaline flooding her system as she moved into a retreat. Landing wasn’t ideal but the mech’s juice was depleting and maybe she could get out of the range of its arms. As she lined up her mech to dart out of its reach she switched on her transmitter. “Its weak point is on the back of its neck! I repeat, its weak point-” 

The omnic’s palm was glowing again, Hana noted, as it came barreling towards her. Sweat trickled down her neck as she pushed her mech hard, letting out a triumphant little cheer as she flittered outside of its range. “Ha! D.Va’s number one!” 

The gloating was short lived as there was another loud pop and the dashboard of her mech went dark. “Huh? What happened?” 

Her hands shook the controls roughly and when that proved fruitless she began to beat on the control panel. “No, no, no! Hang in there, baby!”

The backup power that was reserved for emergency situations refused to come on and Hana sailed through the air helplessly. The mech was going down. 

Hana braced herself, arms curling around her head. Everything was black when she made impact and she was jostled around the compartment violently as the mech bounced along the pavement. She faded out for a moment, but when she came back her ears were ringing intensely and the hatch on the back of the mech was being pried open. 

The next thing she knew she was being pulled out of the machine and propped up. Her eyes focused first on the glowing red of Soldier 76’s visor and second on the screaming pain in her leg. Something must have jutted out and cut her thigh. It hurt something fierce and the blood was getting all over her leggings. 

“Dammit!” 

“Can you stand?” Soldier 76 started moving her to her feet carefully. Her leg gave and she grabbed onto him to steady herself. This was it. The old guy was going to start lecturing her on how she’d been reckless and a dumb kid and-- “We need to get you out of here.” 

Hana’s head snapped back in the direction of the omnic. “But--” 

“You’re not fit to fight and I’m not leaving you here,” he interrupted gruffly, sharply. “Put your arm around me.” 

Hana reluctantly did what he said, letting him support her and move her away from the wreck. They turned down a mostly empty street where there were still a few looters and lost people running around frantically, using their phones for light. Soldier 76 ignored them and set her on a bench, getting down on his knees to treat her injury. 

“Let’s see how bad it is.” He checked the area gingerly, trying to be mindful of its location. After a moment he muttered under his breath and started to search through his duffel bag, at last pulling out a metal cylinder and jamming it down onto the ground beside them. The area around them lit up with a soft, yellow glow.

Hana looked around in surprise and then noted as the pain in her leg gradually eased, the bleeding coming to a stop. She carefully touched the spot, fingers tracing over the rougher skin where the cut was healing. More than that, the other aches in her body from the crash started to fade. 

Soldier 76 was looking up at her. “Better?” 

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Hana said softly. “You didn’t have to waste one of those on me. I would’ve been okay.” 

She could see his brow furrow. “Of course I didn’t waste it. I have to make sure you’re okay.” 

A realization crept over Hana, something critical about the soldier that hadn’t fully clicked, leaving her dizzy as the glow faded and the red strip of Soldier 76’s mask became the only source of illumination.  

_ A good man. _


End file.
